A ninja must never show emotion.

There were any number of "rules" in shinobi society that Jiraiya refused to acknowledge, whether it be by intentional ignorance, accidental ignorance, mischievous defiance, or simple lack of caring. And while that rule was one that he, unlike many of his comrades, admitted was not humanly possible, it was one of the very few that he fervently believed in.

At one point he hadn't, and the turning point was a single event that he would never forget, no matter how hard he tried. And as he watched his first student laugh and joke and argue with his second, the son he didn't even know he had, Jiraiya remembered yet again.

Remembered that if he'd only kept his emotions in check, Minato wouldn't have died with a broken heart.

"Sensei...t-tell Kushina...that I love her...and...and that...I'm sorry..."

The sealing had taken all of the Fourth Hokage's energy, and the life was fading fast in his eyes, and it took all of his remaining breath to say those final words...to make that final request.

And Jiraiya had had enough tact in him not to tell his prized protégé that his wife had died not an hour before...it just hadn't helped any. His eyes had said it clearer than his voice ever could have.

Minato's last moments were filled with self-loathing. For all the wonderful memories he had given his teacher, Jiraiya himself couldn't even let Minato die in peace.

Holding a body so weak when once it had strength to rival the gods of myth, in that one time above all others when he'd needed to live up to his reputation as one of the Sannin, when he'd needed all the strength and wisdom and experience he had garnered in his decades as a soldier, Jiraiya had failed.

Failed miserably.

And, as always, it was the ones he loved that were hurt by that failure.

...People wondered why Jiraiya drank as much as he did.

Sighing heavily, the frog hermit shook his head and marveled at his own stupidity. Here he was with the chance to revisit his past, to relive his memories, to remember the greatest moments of his life, a chance God only knew how many people would kill for, and he was dwelling on the ones he wanted desperately to forget.

You're an idiot, Jiraiya. A Grade-A moron.

And then...he realized just how true that was.

He'd said it once...he had a chance to change things. This was the past. There was no reason that things would have to happen that way again.

"I...have knowledge no one else does...I have...plenty of time..." he murmured, repeating to himself the words he'd said the night before.

His eyes hardened.

If Sandaime, Tsunade, or Orochimaru would have been around to see the expression on Jiraiya's face, they would have known instantly what it meant.

And even Jiraiya's hotheaded, generally insane (or completely insane, in Orochimaru's case) teammates would have admitted that when Jiraiya had that sort of look in his eyes, it meant only one thing: he was stone-cold serious, and that that was a good thing.

Even they would have admitted that this meant Jiraiya had made a promise. Not just any promise, either. Not the sort of promise that he would break if he found a new well-endowed, scantily-clad cutie to occupy his imagination for the day. Not the sort of promise he would brush off as unimportant if it turned out to be more trouble than he'd expected.

This was the sort of promise that was made in the deepest recesses of his being, in the very depths of his soul. And whenever Jiraiya made such a promise, nothing would stop him from seeing it through. Nothing.

Minato...I swear to you. Things won't happen this way again. You won't lose your students this time. You won't lose your wife. You won't have to die. I swear it.

And it was only when he had rooted his feet in the reality of that oath, steeled himself against whatever repercussions that would come from that oath, and gritted his teeth against whatever sacrifices he would have to make to carry out that oath, did Jiraiya allow himself to laugh and joke along with his students.


"So, Naruto-kun, tell me. Where exactly did you come up with the idea of using a clone for this jutsu?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, puzzled. "Uh...y'know, I don't really remember too much about that...um..."

"It was a cat," Jiraiya said, walking up to join them. "He figured out how to rotate his chakra in different directions by watching a cat play with a water balloon."

Minato frowned. "...So...the clone takes the role of a playing cat...I'm not sure I get it."

"It's how he manages to make it into a workable form," the hermit continued, "having a kage bunshin both rotate and condense his chakra. He can't do it with a single hand; he needs assistance. So he called on his other signature jutsu."

Naruto frowned, then nodded. "Yeah...okay."

Stepping back, the blonde jounin crossed his arms. "I see...you know, Sensei, it probably wasn't a good idea to let him take such a shortcut. He should have learned how to rotate and condense chakra using only one hand."

"Perhaps," Jiraiya conceded, shrugging, "but I decided to let it slide. It's worked for him so far. Besides, now he knows the way it works."

"In a fashion, but it's still the wrong way to go about it. He's grown used to doing it his own way. Haven't you, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded. "Well...sure."

"And because of that, it'll be harder to learn it the right way. Habits are hard to break, Sensei...especially bad ones. You of all people should understand that."

"I'll pretend you didn't insinuate what you're telling me, there," Jiraiya snapped, eyes narrow. "Keep in mind, Minato-chan, you're still a brat. I have seniority."

"...Or senility," Minato muttered, and Naruto snorted laughter.

Jiraiya scowled. "You've forgotten your place, kid. I taught you all you know. Both of you! I took you on as my students and this is my repayment!?"

"Oh, come now, Sensei, lighten up. If you can't admit that you have plenty of vices, then we need to add delusion to the list. And anyway, this is beside the point. I think we should start over with training Naruto-kun. That way, he'll learn it the right way."

Minato glanced at Naruto. "So what do you say, kiddo? Ready to be my student?"

The gleam in Naruto's eyes at that offer was not lost on Jiraiya, who smiled slightly. Of course, much of the reason the young genin was so excited at the prospect was because he knew Minato as the famed Yondaime Hokage, the greatest ninja ever to exist. But there was another facet to it, Jiraiya was sure.

Even though Naruto didn't realize just who Minato was to him, some part of him felt it. Jiraiya could tell, just in the way they had so quickly bonded, that both of them felt a kinship with each other.

Jiraiya seriously considered telling Minato just what had happened, just where he and the others had come from, but he thought better of it. Not yet. The time wasn't right.

Instead, he simply watched.

And wondered if Minato had met the woman who would later become his wife yet. He wasn't entirely certain just how far back he'd taken himself and his companions yet.

Maybe I should try to find her...no. Kushina has probably been warned about me...sheesh. No respect at all in this village, I swear...

He huffed, frowning again.

It was seriously unfair.


There was one fundamental difference between Jiraiya's teaching methods and Minato's, and Naruto picked up on it immediately. Jiraiya was like Kakashi, giving only the necessary information regarding the exercise before finding something else (probably perverse in nature) to occupy his time.

Minato, on the other hand, behaved more like Iruka, remaining at hand in case his student had any questions. He told Naruto various bits of information, from how far to place his feet to the proper crook of his fingers as he molded chakra. Much of what he said sounded stupid to Naruto at first, but gradually he realized that he felt much more comfortable than he would have otherwise by following the man's advice.

He supposed he should have expected nothing less from a hero.

Also, Minato seemed quite at ease as Naruto trained, even though he wasn't making any headway. He was patient, belying his energetic, almost child-like demeanor.

He also employed a tactic that Naruto hadn't expected to do any good, but somehow did: distraction. He told stories, made jokes, pointed out various things in the landscape, any number of things to make Naruto lose focus on the task he was attempting to perform.

When Naruto finally asked why Minato was doing this, he replied, "This jutsu isn't about mind power. I didn't create it through months of contemplation over scrolls and books, trying to come up with the most efficient jutsu I was capable of. The Rasengan is all natural, and by that I mean it's purely physical. Your body knows how to do it; by focusing so hard on it like you want to do, you're breezing right past it. I'm letting your body do what comes natural by distracting your mind."

And strangely enough, it seemed to be working.

"...That stain never did come out," Minato was saying now, while straining to suppress laughter, "did it, Sensei?"

Jiraiya huffed. "No, but it doesn't matter. That...incident, as you so kindly call it, resulted in the pivotal scene in my first novel, which sold like crazy, might I add!"

Minato, however, was no longer listening. "I swear, the look on his face was absolutely priceless! Oh, you should have seen it!"

Jiraiya twitched, groaning with exasperation and pulling out said first novel, reading the scene in question and smirking. "This scene was so worth losing one lousy shirt...and I refuse to let you read it, you ungrateful little snot!"

"Oh, loosen up, Sensei," Minato said with a grin. "You know you love me."

"Probably one of those bad habits I have," the gray-haired Sannin snapped. "Some people love drinking themselves into unconsciousness, but that still doesn't make it healthy!"

"Some people?" Minato repeated. "You mean, like, say...you?"

"I do not drink that much! I drink until I'm drunk, not until I'm incapacitated!"

Naruto and Minato shared a look.

"It's true, damn you!" Jiraiya snarled, but it sounded far too whiny to be taken seriously. "You know, sometimes I wonder why I keep coming back here! I must be a masochist!"

"You still like hanging around Tsunade-neechan every once in a while," Minato said, raising an eyebrow, "so I'd say that's a fair guess. How is she, anyway? Have you heard from her recently?"

"No, not recently. Last I heard, she was still in trouble with the law...imagine that. Imagine the nerve of people wanting the money that they won from her."

Minato rolled his eyes. "Figures. No luck in convincing her to come back?"

"Tch. Of course not. That old bat won't listen to anybody. She's a hopeless case."

He glared pointedly at Naruto, who seemed about to say something. Seeing the look, the genin swallowed his words and nodded.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," Minato shrugged. "But hey...you came back. Maybe Neechan will, too. Anyway, I think we've done enough training for the day. You look exhausted, Naruto-kun."

"Eh...well...maybe...kind of."

"You've done well today," Minato said with a grin. "I'm impressed. And," here he looked at Jiraiya, "since he did such a good job, and because I was the one to train him today, I think you should be the one to get us something to eat...don't you agree, Sensei? Only fair...isn't it?"

Jiraiya growled. "...I hate you."

Minato's grin widened. "They all say that."

Whirling on his heel, Jiraiya groaned. "I've no doubt what you want...you know, when you two die from all the sodium you ingest from that slop, I'm not going to your funerals."

"I'm actually comforted by that," Minato replied thoughtfully. "God only knows what you'd say about me."

Jiraiya, who still remembered precisely what he had said at Minato's funeral, narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists, all the more determined to never have to say it a second time.

"I'd simply tell the truth about you, kid."

"Yeah...that's why I'm comforted. You have a twisted view of the truth, Sensei."

"Yeah," Naruto added, "just look at what he calls 'research.'"

"It is research. You just don't understand it."

"What I don't understand is how you manage to write anything down. All I've ever seen you do is stare and drool. How that constitutes as research I won't ever know. I thought there was more to it than that...like...oh, I don't know...thinking."

"I do think!"

"Barely."

"Oh, suddenly telepathic now? You just don't understand the artistic nature of my work, you sad, ignorant little man. I think you just need to find a girl of your own. Then you'll understand it."

"I have a girl of my own, Sensei," Minato muttered. "I told you about her. You've met her!"

"Oh, is she still around?" Jiraiya asked, inwardly smiling at the answer to one of his many questions about just when he was. "I wasn't sure. She didn't seem particularly interested in you, I'm sorry to say. She kept eyeing me."

"To ensure that you wouldn't pounce on her. People don't take their attention off a predator in their immediate presence, you know."

"Ah, now...you're just letting jealousy take over. No need to be so insulting about it. It's okay. It's my fault. Really. I shouldn't have shown myself. You couldn't hope to live up to my perfection, after all."

"If you're perfection now, then I've got even less to worry about."

"There's that jealousy again."

"Did I mention that you're delusional?"

"Even if that's true, one of the benefits of being delusional is that I don't believe it."

"...Damn. I hate it when you're right."

"No wonder you're so bitter. I'm always right."

"What about that time in the Grass Country when you—"

"Quiet, Naruto! I warned you against that story!"

Minato raised an eyebrow, then elbowed Naruto playfully. "Tell me later, huh?"

"You bet."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes.


Sorry about how long this update took. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. I'm trying to get myself out of a writing slump. Hope this works. Next chapter will focus on one of the other groups. Probably Sasuke and Obito, but I'm not sure. 'Til then, all. Ja ne.